Automobile lift



Nov. 16, 1931. D. D. MYERS 2,099,274

AUTOMOBILE LIFT Filed on. 28, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 16, 1937. D. n, MYERS 2,099,274

AUTOMOBILE LIFT Filed Oct. 28, 1955 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 16, 1937 V AUTQMQ LEM w Don D. Myers, Toledo. Ohio, assignor'to Modern Equipment Corporation, Defiance,-0hio, a corporation of Ohio Application October: as, 1935,";Serial' 310141137 '4 Claims". (olfz's ez 7 An object of my invention is to providea lift structurefor automobiles or the like of the multiple post type in which a plurality of pairs of posts are mounted on a garage floor or the like. 5, and a carriage frame is vertically movablerelative to the posts, the carriage frame having rails or flanges to engage the wheelsofan automobile to lift the automobile thereby; when vertical movement is imparted to the carriage frame;

A further object is to provide the carriage frame in the form of transverse beams and longitudinal beams connecting the transverse beams, flange elements being carried bythe beams and arranged along thelsides of the longitudinal 1; 5 beamsffor engaging the wheelsof an automobile. 7

further object'is to provide the transverse face thereof being rounded to facilitate the driving-of an automobileaeross the transverse beams to position the automobile overthelongitudinal Anothe r object is to provide means for mov-. ing the carriage comprising screw threaded shafts supported by the posts, nuts'to rotate on: the

screw, threaded shafts and the nuts. inturn sup-1 P t the. c riage frame and'a motor driven chain-. extending? along the beams from; one sprocket' to another for simultaneously rotating th h t Another object is to provide the transverse v beamsfio-f l shape so that the stretches of chain can ggtend between the flanges thereof, the;.- up:

per; flanges being curved downwardly toprotect the chain. a ainst contact with the wheels of an antomobile when driven thereover and to facili:

.40 re ers ch W i n e. a u vnositioned for either raising or lowering the carriage iiaf a au om i s ep in m ans' ein vid d er ins ir g e sw t n e a ive -unq iti n e t r e weare o er rl it'of em yea 5 men-tis reached. i

' Still anot er object istoprovidea S gan-inel ber f,or a ffree' wheel type of lift'which is coopra le th ew or eith ais n n of we afliome le 0 converting th r whee i t T 1% aid i epnff e a .Withthese a d other objects in view myinveni 'eonfs i the c n u ti n.ar an emssi re Combi a o of the e vus Pa s (if m vice whereby the objects contemplated are-at taisesi. as zhere seiie more iully set i-Qrt beamsof special cross section; the upper. sur-f pointedout myfclaims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspectiveview. of an automobile 7 lift embodying my'invention.

Figure 2-is a' diagrammatic plan view of the same showing the arrangement of a chain for drivingthe lifting sprocket nuts of the lift.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective viewof the joint between one of the drive on longitudinal rails and one of the transverse beams. I

1 Figure 4 :is an enlarged sectional view on the liney4-4 of Figure 3 showing the cross sectional shape ofthe transversebeam and the coaction of an automobile wheel supporting flange member therewith.

- Figure 5 is, a'sectional view on the line 55 of Figurel showing details of construction of the driving mechanism for the chain and the lifting mechanism for the carriage frame.

Figure 6 is aplan view, partly in section on the 20 line fi-e-fi of Figure 5. Figure 7 is a front elevation of the nearcorner post: in, Figure 1 :showing automatic control means'for'themotor' switch.

-5Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating the 5 saddle memberfor'converting a free wheel typev of lift-to'a driveon type of'lift. V -,Figure -9-is a: diagrammatic side elevation showing-the saddle of Figure 8 being used to raiseoneend only of an automobile. 30,

.Figure -10. is ;a similar diagrammatic View showing two .oflthe'saddles used for entirely supporting an automobile by engaging the wheels thereof; and 1 Figure 11 is a side elevation of thelongitudinal 35 rail ofv afree wheel type of lift showing an end view of the saddle member when associated therewith. r

the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral ill to indicate a post of 4.0

castings are similar, with the exception of the one-at the nearcorner, which has an extension .7 22. The casting 2limay be secured as by welding 2411s the t as 9f he eam .l a m 5 castings 20, as best shown in Figure 6, has a pair of grooves 26 and 28 adapted to be guided by the edges of the flanges of the angle-like posts l0. One of the grooves preferably terminates in a hook-like flange 38.

Between the flanges of each post 10, I provide a stationary screw threaded shaft 32, the upper end of which is weldedin a nut 34. The nut 34 is in turn carried by a cap member 36 on the post it having an annular socket 31 to supportingiy and non-rotatably receive the nut 34. Thenut serves mereiy as a suspending and connecting means betweenthe threaded shaft 32 and the upper end of the post 10, Thalower end of the shaft 32 may engage the foot plate I2 if desired for additional support. 7

On each shaft 32 I provide a rotatable nut 38 which obviously upon rotation will travel either up or down longi udinally of the shaft, depending on its direction of rotation. The nuts 38 through thrust ball bearings 69 support the castings 20, the bearings being received in sockets 42 thereof and resting on shoulders 44 of the nuts 38.

Each nut 38 is provided with a sprocket wheel it whereby the nuts may be rotated by actuation of'the chain 53 passing around the nuts. The chain 38 is continuous, extending around each sprocket f-E as shown diagrammatically in Figure 2 and over idlers 52 located at the junctions of the carriage beams l6 and I8. The Webs of the longitudinal and transverse beams l6 and it! are indicated at Ma and I8a in Figure 2 and the webs iiia are provided with perforations 50 as shown in Figure 3 for the chain to extend through.

The chain 48 also extends around a drive sprocket 54 mounted on a shaft 56. The shaft 56 is driven as through a gear 58 and a pinion fit? by a reversible electric motor 62.

The motor 62' is supported on the housing 64 for the the gears 58 and 60. The housing 64 has a cylindrical projection 66 fitting snugly in a boreififi of the casting extension 22; The shaft 55 is located eccentrically relative tothe cylinder at as shown in Figure 6 whereby the cylinder may be rotated for'tightening the chain 48 after it becomes worn. The adjustment maybe retained by a clamping bolt 10 extendingthrough perforated ears '32 on opposite sides of a split in the casting'extension 22. Upon loosening this bolt the entire motor and gear casing can be rotated to secure .the necessary chain adjustment. The are of adjustment is indicated at 14 in Figure 6, theminimum adjustment being illustrated in this figure.

Wheel engaging members A are provided for the longitudinal beams it. The members A'are made of heavy sheet metal or boiler plate and have flanges l6, I8, and 82. The flanges 76 rest on top of the beam l6 while'the flanges "l8 depend therefrom so that the outwardly extending flanges 8% may rest on the floor I4 when the lift is in lowered position. The flanges 82 are for reinforcing purposes while the flanges 80 are for engaging the wheels of an automobile for lifting the automobile when the carriage frame is raised. 7

The transverse beams l8 are preferably I shaped in cross section, although they have a peculiar inverted anchor shape as shown in Figure 4. The lower flanges are indicated at I81) and the upper flanges at I80.

The flanges [80, it will be noted, are inclined or curved downwardly, thus retaining the strength of the I beam but rounding the upper of the transverse beams.

surface so as to facilitate the driving of the automobile wheels across the transverse beams when driving the automobile to a position for being lifted by the lift.

The flanges liic by bending downwardly also protect the chain 48 from contact with the wheels of the automobile. The ends of the flanges 16 of the supporting members A rest on the flanges I80 and are welded or otherwise secured thereto while the ends of the flanges 8&3 rest on the flanges 18?) This permits effective support for the wheel supporting flanges 80 adjacent the beams l8 where such support is especially needed when the automobile wheels roll off the beams during the positioning operation.. This construction of the beams l8 eliminates the necessity of providingramps for the automobile when driving it over the beams.

For controlling the motor 62, I provide a switch 88 having a control handle 99. As shown by dotted lines in Figure 6 when this handle is swung toward the left the motor 62 rotates in the proper direction for raising the lift. When swung toward the right, the motor rotates in the reverse direction while when the lever is in the central position (full line position) the motor is de-energized.

The handle 98 has an extension 92 adapted to cooperate with actuating lugs 94 and 96 at the top and bottom of the nearest post Ill in Figure 1. The lugs 94 and 96 have inclined or cam shaped lower and upper faces respectively as shown at 94a and 96a in Figure 7. When the lever 90 is swung toward the left for causing the lift to raisethe extension 92 will swingtoward the right into the path of the cam surface 94a adjacent the upper limit'of movement of the lift. The extension 92 will'eng age the cam surface 94a thus automatically'swinging the lever 90 to the center or off position. Likewise at the lower limit of movement, the cam surface 96a swings the lever to the center or off position. Thus a simple means isprovided for automatically stopping the lift at either limit of its movement. The posts'lll, it will be noted, are entirely independent of each other except that they are connected by the threaded shafts and castings 20 to the carriage frame; Thus it is unnecessary to providean'y stationary connecting frame at the tops of the posts which would be an inconvenient obstruction inasmuch as the carriage frame as it rises. serves'as a means to retain the posts [0 in proper position relative to each other and in a rigid supporting position for the carriage frame. The motor and all operating parts for the lift are carried by the carriage frame and the control switch is likewise carried by the carriage frame. This considerably simplifies the construction of the machine without sacrificing any mechanical advantages inherent in a lift of the kind in which the motor is mounted stationary relative to the posts. Since screw threaded shafts are provided, the chain 18 can operate at a considerable speed without producing excessive lifting speed of the lift itself. The use of screw threaded shafts also makes the lift self locking in any position in which it is stopped. y

In Figure 8 I illustrate a free wheel lift having longitudinal beams l6 and transverse beams l8. The saddle is indicated generally as B and comprises a central'plate 98 having flanges I00 at its ends which are dished so as to retain the wheels [02 of an automobile therein against rolling out of the flanges when the wheels are once positioned therein. V The forward and rearward edges of the flanges V 7 2,099,274 r I 00, indicated at NIL are bent downwardly to fit over the beams l8 to reinforce the forward and rearward edges of the wheel supporting flanges I and to. rest on the surface 14 as shown in and arrangement of the parts of my device with- 1 out departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use 'of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention: a 1. In a lift structure, a vertically movable carriage frame including a transverse beam and free wheel rails and a saddle for support on said rails, said saddle having. laterally extending flanges for engaging the wheels of an automobile, said flanges being dished in a fore and aft direction and resting on said transverse beam and 2. In a lift structure, a vertically movable carriage frame including free wheel rails and a transverse beam and a saddle for support on said rails, said saddle having flanges supported partially by said transverse beam for engaging the wheels of an automobile. 1

3. In a lift structure, a vertically movable carriage frame including free wheel rails and a transverse beam, and a saddle for support on said rails, said saddle comprising a cross member for positioning on said rails and flanges at the ends thereof for engagement with the wheels of an automobile, said flanges having downturned front and rear edges, one of which is hooked over said transverse beam 4; In a lift structure, a vertically movable carriage frame including freewheel rails and a trans- I verse beam,-a:saddle for support on said rails, said saddle comprising a cross member for positioning on said rails and, flanges at the ends thereof for I engagement with the wheels of an automobile; saidflanges having downturned front and rear edges, one, of which is hooked over said trans verse beam and the portion of said flange intermediate said edges being depressed for receiving the'wheels of an automobile and preventing them from rolling off over said edge.

DON Di MYERS. 

